Critical Theory and Philosophy

Faculty research at the intersections of cultural and intellectual history spans time periods, societies, genres, media, and languages. It includes the study of philosophical, religious, social, political, and scientific thought, of literature, arts, visual culture, beliefs, and ideas – in their complexity, interconnectedness, and dynamics. We explore the links between idea systems and social contexts, individuals and groups, and modes and forms of intellectual and artistic expression. The issues of cultural transmission, adoption, adjustment, change, and innovation are in the foreground of our research interests.

Charles Brown

Instructor of German, German Undergraduate Advisor (A-L)

Andrew Drozd

Associate Professor of Russian, Russian Program Director, Russian Minor Program Advisor

19th century Russian literature, Chernyshevskii, old Russian literature, Russian history, Czech language and literature, East European history, and Slavic folklore

Eighteenth and early nineteenth-century literature, intellectual history, philosophy

Matthew Feminella

Associate Professor of German, German Program Co-Director, Graduate Advisor, Fulbright Program Advisor, IGSEP and Study Abroad Advisor

Eighteenth and early nineteenth-century literature, intellectual history, philosophy

Romanticism to Postmodernism Intellectual history Philosophy Visual arts Women’s writing Minority literatures Holocaust studies German-Jewish literature Translation studies

Renata Fuchs

Instructor of German

Romanticism to Postmodernism, intellectual history, philosophy, visual arts, women’s writing, minority literatures, Holocaust studies, German-Jewish literature, translation studies

Yunuen Gómez-Ocampo

Instructor of Spanish

Latin American, Latinx & Caribbean Studies, migration and Border Studies, gender studies, women writers, testimonial genres, translation studies, literary publishing

Gender Studies, Women Writers, Early Modernity, Social Justice, Hegemony and Power, Queer Theory

Xabier Granja

Associate Professor of Spanish, Spanish Undergraduate Director

Gender studies, women writers, Early Modernity, social justice, hegemony and power, queer theory

Colin MacCormack

Instructor of Classics

Ancient Greek and Latin poetics, animal studies and posthumanism, mythology and folklore, Hellenistic and Roman epic and didactic, Classical reception

Micah McKay

Assistant Professor of Spanish

Environmental discourse and cultural production, literature and film in the context of the Anthropocene

modern and contemporary Italian literature, culture, philosophy, and history, literary criticism, aesthetics, phenomenology, and gender and trauma studies

Alessandra Montalbano

Associate Professor of Italian

Modern and contemporary Italian literature, culture, philosophy, and history, literary criticism, aesthetics, phenomenology, and gender and trauma studies

Modernismo and women’s writing in Latin America; feminism, gender theory, aesthetics, and intellectual networks

Sarah Moody

Associate Professor of Spanish, Director of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies, Sigma Delta Pi Advisor

Modernismo and women’s writing in Latin America; feminism, gender theory, aesthetics, intellectual networks

Jean Luc Robin

Associate Professor of French, Director of French Undergraduate Studies

17th-Century Literature & Thought: Descartes, French classical literature and scientific revolution, Molière

Ignacio F. Rodeño

Professor of Spanish

US Latina/o, Caribbean, and Mexican literatures and cultures; Hispanic autobiography and narratives of the self; literary theory, and transatlantic studies

Claudia Romanelli

Associate Professor of Italian, Italian Program Director, Italian Undergraduate Advisor

Italian cinema in a transnational context, film history and theory, screenwriting practices, international co-productions, collaborative authorship, contemporary Italian literature, postcolonial studies, mixed- and intermedia